Cross Campus: 04.13.09

Move over, O-Town. The Duke’s Men will be trailed by an MTV camera crew in advance of the pilot of an upcoming a cappella reality TV show.

In the latest edition of the world’s oldest continuous international amateur track competition, Oxbridge men bested Harvard and Yale, but the American women prevailed. Fittingly, outgoing Yale provost and incoming Oxford vice chancellor Andrew Hamilton officiated at a reception Friday evening in Davenport.

Easter eggs scattered the Davenport courtyard Sunday morning, but the squirrels quickly tore them open and excised the candy. Eggs hidden in the plants in the Trumbull dining hall fared better.

Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh’s nomination to be the State Department’s legal adviser “may turn out to be the first real confirmation fight in the new Administration,” according to legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. But the solicitor general for President George H.W. Bush ’48, Kenneth Starr, publicly endorsed Koh for the office.

University President Richard Levin will appoint a search committee sometime this week to begin the process of replacing Koh. The committee will have professors on it, but no students, per Law School tradition. But the committee will consult with students and alumni, Levin said.

The Yale Band is in the midle of a wek-long scavvenger hunt. Items on the search list include college axeptence letters, a duck wistle and YDN typoes.

It’s not February. It’s not a whole month. And they’re not seniors. But it is “J.V. Feb Club” — a week of junior parties.

The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, of which Yale investment czar David Swensen is a member, has yet to hold a formal meeting, Politico reported Sunday.

Cash-strapped Cornell University found 423 takers for its offer of early retirement buyouts. The buyouts are one of the school’s many cost-saving measures in response to its falling endowment and funding cuts from the state.

This day in Yale history

1979 A student and faculty panel studying Yale College’s grading policy rejected proposals to add pluses and minuses to letter grades. They did recommend expanding the number of courses with a Credit/D/Fail option.